service

I just spent the last week in the nation of South Korea where God gave me the privilege of speaking to Children’s Ministers and Leaders. While there I spoke at two churches: Jeonhari, in the Seoul area and Hosanna Church in Busan, which is on the coast of South Korea. In my travels I learned one thing for sure, God is blessing the churches of South Korea and they have a hunger to reach the next generation for Christ. Over the course of this week, I want to share with you some of my experiences.

One of the immediate impressions I got from the Korean people is that service is very important to them. I first saw this on the flight over. The flight attendants on Korean Air were friendly, helpful, and very professional. I later found out that this “job of service” was considered very prestigious and that the people who did this job were the best of the best. But this courtesy didn’t end on the plane. No matter where I went, whether it was the people who worked in the different hotels, the couple who rented a bike to me for a quick ride in the park, the person who worked behind the counter giving me my morning coffee at Smoothie King, or just someone I would meet on the street, people were kind, compassionate, and warm.

At the churches where the conferences were held, Jeonhari in Seoul and Hosanna in Busan, servanthood was taken (as my good friend and senior pastor would say) to a “hole notha’ level.” I cannot remember a time when I wanted for less. The staff and volunteers went to great extremes, despite language barriers, to make sure my needs were met. I dined with senior pastors whom I knew were very busy. I couldn’t carry my bags anywhere, even when I tried to. (An example: when I got out of the car to enter Hosanna Church on the first day of our conference there, someone who was on staff stepped up and took my bag. This person intended to carry my bag into the church for me, but he was unable to because someone else stepped up to take it from him.) Everywhere I turned the Korean people truly tried to, “Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Romans 12:10, ESV) We all could learn from their example.